By Freddie Mooche

(AXcess News) Washington - The Fed's Beige Book report revealed choppy growth is expected for some areas of the U.S. economy, though the overall outlook only confirmed to investors just how slow growth in the U.S. economy would be.

The Federal Reserve's report revealed that over the summer growth in certain areas where about as expected while in others barely any economic expansion was seen.  Kansas City and Cleveland experienced economic expansion, albeit slow, while Atlanta and Chicago, two hubs of the nation's economy, reported slower economic growth than expected.  Overall, the results nationwide where disappointing.

Investors reacted to other economic data reported by the U.S. Department of Commerce this morning when the June durable goods report revealed a second month of declining big-ticket orders from U.S. factories.  In fact, it was the lowest on record since August 2009, down 1 percent.  That set the mood in the market ahead of the Fed's Beige Book report with the Dow then down 27 points.  But in late afternoon trading in New York the Dow gave into the slow-growth signal falling another 12 points.

Generally, the Beige Book showed that manufacturing overall had gained in about half of the cities, though within the other regions factory work as a whole fell.

Commercial real estate in all 12 regions "worried" bankers while the housing market remained "sluggish" following the end of the Obama administration's tax credit program that helped boost the market earlier this year.  Even now mortgage rates are at an all-time low and prices continue to drop, but mortgage application rates as of last week where down, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.  With real estate remaining depressed, bankers from the Fed's 12 regions will continue to worry about the state of property when the next Beige Book is published in August.

Auto sales and other big-ticket items slowed while consumers shopped mostly for "necessity" items that created a retail picture with no short term growth in sight across the entire nation, though a few markets did show some expansion.

The Beige Book, the Fed's region-by-region economic report, gave an overall outlook on the U.S. economy of slower-than-hoped for growth, yet when the Federal Open Market Committee meets next on August 10th the Report gave a snapshot of how FOMC members will likely vote on holding interest rates at their current level.